And to their wills we must succumb,
Quocunque trahunt, 'tis our doom.460
This is the same numeric crew
Which we so lately did subdue;
The self-same individuals that
Did run, as mice do from a cat,
When we courageously did wield465
Our martial weapons in the field,
To tug for victory: and when
We shall our shining blades agen
Brandish in terror o'er our heads,
They 'll straight resume their wonted dreads.470
Fear is an ague, that forsakes
And haunts, by fits, those whom it takes;[1]
And they'll opine they feel the pain
And blows they felt to-day, again.
Then let us boldly charge them home,475
And make no doubt to overcome.
This said, his courage to inflame,
He call'd upon his mistress' name;[2]
His pistol next he cock'd anew,
And out his nut-brown whinyard drew;[3]480
And placing Ralpho in the front,
Reserv'd himself to bear the brunt,
As expert warriors use; then ply'd,
With iron heel, his courser's side,
Conveying sympathetic speed485
From heel of Knight to heel of steed.
Meanwhile the foe, with equal rage
And speed, advancing to engage.
Both parties now were drawn so close,
Almost to come to handy-blows:490
When Orsin first let fly a stone
At Ralpho; not so huge a one
- ↑ Var. Haunts by turns, in the editions of 1663.
- ↑ A hit at the old Romances of Knight-errantry. In like manner Cervantes makes Don Quixote invoke his Dulcinca upon almost every occasion.
- ↑ Whinyard signifies a sword; it is chiefly used in contempt or banter. Johnson derives it from whin, furze; so whinniard, the short scythe or instrument with which country people cut whins.
Antony whom you once drove out of the field before Mutina: Be, as you have been, conquerors." And so, too, Napoleon on several occasions.
